Life

John Young Breaks Barriers in Triathlon

How determination and unstoppable willpower propelled the first person with dwarfism to finish a full-distance IRONMAN.

by Jessica Elliott

"Your scale is broken."

That’s what John Young said to his doctor in 2006 when it read 195 pounds. For 4-foot-4-inch Young, who has achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism, the number was eye-opening. It was the tipping point for an entirely changed life.

Soon after his doctor visit, Young was further diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, a problem that had plagued him for months. With treatment, he noticed a vast improvement in his energy levels—enough to give him motivation to return to swimming, a sport he had always enjoyed. Then, the Salem, Massachusetts, high-school teacher was further encouraged by his students at the Pingree School when they suggested everyone bike to school one day. "I borrowed my wife’s bike and rode 10 miles, and thought it was fun," he says. With swimming and biking, he began to drop pounds, tone up—and sleep better.

Young’s real turning point came in 2009, when he saw a video of Dick and Rick Hoyt, the renowned father-son racing team, finishing an IRONMAN. "I thought, 'If they can do that, I can do a sprint,'" says Young, who now regularly competes with the Hoyts. Though he had never run more than once around a track due to doctors discouraging him (many with dwarfism often need numerous back surgeries and it was previously thought running would exacerbate the pain) he toed the starting line. Afterward, his legs were sore, but he says he still thought it was fun.

"The world needs to see that it doesn’t matter what type of body you have, if you put in the effort and training, you can do anything you want to do."

More sprints followed, then an Olympic-distance triathlon and a half-distance race. He has since completed more than 40 triathlons, eight half-distance races and eight marathons—including the Boston Marathon three times and the New York City Marathon. In doing so, he earned the nickname "The Hammer." He realized an IRONMAN didn’t seem so impossible.

Young decided to target IRONMAN Maryland this year, held the same year as his 50th birthday. "I visited the IRONMAN Maryland Facebook page, and the race director, Gerry Boyle, messaged and asked what he could do to help," Young says. "He was just amazing. Everyone was excited and was welcoming me to the race."

He also received support from Massachusetts-based bike company Seven Cycles, which designed a special bike for him to ride in place of the heavy child’s mountain bike he had adapted. Not only that, but a woman who Young had never met paid for the bike in full after learning of his goal. "She has a niece with dwarfism and said, 'The world needs to see that it doesn’t matter what type of body you have, if you put in the effort and training, you can do anything you want to do,'" he says.

Training for Young, and especially for a long-distance triathlon, takes far more effort since he covers a shorter distance with each stride. He adjusted his schedule to pair long runs on back-to-back days to give his body more rest, and added in extra time for long rides. He knew he was ready when he arrived in Maryland for the October race, where he found rainy and windy weather. His only fear? That the race would be cancelled. (In the end, the race was only modified slightly.)

The bike course alone proved no easy feat for Young. "It was a very flat course, no uphill but no downhill, and I pedaled for 6.5 hours constant," Young says. "On the run, the water was up to my thighs. It was nuts, but I was laughing. I thought, it’s just another test, do what you can." His coach, Brian Hammond, found him on the run course with 1.5 miles to go. "He said, ‘John, you will never have another first-time IRONMAN, so remember every moment leading up to the finish line.'"

A wave of emotion hit Young as he ran down the finish chute. "I thought of people earlier in my life saying, 'You can’t do this, you’re too small. You can’t do this, you’re too short.' And I yelled out, 'Look at me now!' I was emotional." He finished in 14:21, arriving at the finish line to see his wife, Sue, and his son, Owen, who hung the finisher’s medal around his neck. "I wouldn’t have wanted a finish any other way," he says. That night, he became the first person with dwarfism to finish an IRONMAN.

It might have been his first long-distance finish—but it won’t be his last. "I want to inspire people who are physically and mentally challenged, who see me and say, 'I can do this,'" he says. "I’ve had parents of children with dwarfism call me and say, 'I always wondered what my child will do, and now I see they can do this.'"

Next on his list? His fourth Boston marathon, and later, the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. "Triathlon has absolutely changed my life," he says. "I want to keep doing them for a long time."

Big Time Success Secrets

1. Don’t measure yourself against someone else. "People ask me if I'm worried I'm going to come last. But someone always has to come into last place. And even if you do, you beat every other person who didn’t try. I race, and I learn from my mistakes on race day."

2. Worry about what you can control. "You can’t control the weather, but you can control what clothing you can wear. Athletes worry way too much about things they can’t control."

3.Don't listen to naysayers—even if that naysayer is you. "People say, 'I could never do a marathon,' and I say, ‘It’s because you don’t want to. Your will needs to be stronger than your won’t.' If you want to do a marathon, you will, guaranteed."

A feature on John Young will air on CNN's Fit Nation on Saturday. Check your local listings for times.